Author: Lyla Ridgeway

Bacon Slab. Seattle’s Bacon. Award-Winning Bacon. The Best Bacon.

Call it whatever you will but here at Bavarian Meats we call our bacon a delicious family legacy.
You see, the bacon we crank out each week here in Belltown on Western is the same bacon that Grandpa Max started making for our shop in 1961.

Made from fresh local pork bellies delivered every week, our bacon is hand trimmed, dry rubbed, dry brined under refrigeration for two days, and smoked over alder in our fifty-year old smoker for more than twelve hours. Other bacon makers nationwide often inject their pork with a brine, but we have never done that. And, we never will.

And, for those Emerald City bacon lovers with an adventurous palate, we recently introduced a hometown bacon sibling– the Bavarian Meats Whiskey Bacon. Developed by our Production Manager Jamie Simmons and infused with locally crafted Fremont Mischief Distillery whiskey, the results are dynamic, rambunctious and down-right award winning.

American family business you say? Well, for some folks that conjures up iconic imagery. For others, it conjures up that imagery and a whole lot more. Family dynamics. Long hours. Short vacations. Good years. And, not so good years.

You see, here at Bavarian Meats, we’ve been a family business ever since Grandpa Max opened shop in the Pike Place Market in 1961. And, yep, you better believe this family business has seen it all in our fifty-six years. We are still at the same location in the Market and are now a third-generation gig, being run by my identical sister and me. We have 28 employees, an authentic German deli, and we make more than fifty wholesale products in our small warehouse weekly.

To put it simply, we are jacks of all trades and never quite know what’s gonna be tossed our way. It’s like a reality show 24/7. Just when we think we can tackle something in one sitting or finally launch that new product, a pipe springs a leak in the warehouse or someone is stuck in traffic and late for work. And, when it comes to managing the fourth-generation leaders at Bavarian Meats…now teenagers…well, we won’t even go there.

That being said there are good days and deliciously great days. In early September, we had a great day.

Andrew Zimmern of “Bizarre Foods” was in Seattle. He was scouting around for his new show, “The Zimmern List,” which will launch this fall. We had heard he might stop in but nothing was definite. Then around 1:30, he walked into our little deli with his crew and a sincere curiosity.
Like any other day, we had all arrived for work prepared to crank out the wieners, the brats, the bacon and the hot lunches. Only this day was different because our brand new spicy head cheese took center stage while we stood on the sidelines. The limelight was on the legacy and not the drudgery.

Sitting on a stool overlooking the parade of people outside, Zimmern sampled our classic blood and tongue and our recently introduced spicy head cheese, which is a twist on our Old World classic. Photos were shot. Energy flowed.

We are pretty sure we’ve made the cut, but for us that isn’t the meat of the story. The real story here is that Andrew and his crew are exploring small unique places like ours. They are investing time and energy into celebrating those foods made with heart, hand, head and a hell of a lot of grit.

Before Andrew left, he looked at me and simply said, “Thanks for keeping a place like this going for so long. “

At that moment, Grandpa Max roared.

Andrew Zimmern with the crew at Bavarian Meats in the Pike Place Market, Seattle, September 6, 2017
Andrew Zimmern at Bavarian Meats in the Pike Place Market, September 6, 2017
Andrew Zimmern and crew scouting for his new show, “The Zimmern List”, September 6, 2017
Andrew Zimmern and crew at Bavarian Meats in the Pike Place Market, Seattle 6, 2017

We’ve been hamming it up down here on Western. Our classic bone in baking hams have long had a faithful following–generations of Seattleites have grown up on this seasonal holiday specialty.

So, in order to bring that flavor profile to the table year round, we’ve been giving some love to our classic boneless ham, which we’ve now affectionately dubbed, “The Sweetheart Ham.” A longtime favorite enjoyed in sandwiches and casseroles, this ham has had a minor makeover and now has the same flavor profile as our holiday ham.

Averaging about 2.5 to 3 pounds each, these netted boneless hams are made with pork from Oregon’s acclaimed Carlton Farms and are great for small families and households. Made from the pork knuckle and carefully deboned by our skillful butchers in house, these hams have more fat and bigger flavor. Soaked in a cover brine for a few days, netted and lightly smoked with alder they are an artisan meat suitable for everything from a hefty Dagwood-inspired hero to a classic casserole and swoon-worthy Eggs Benedict.

Still made in small batches of only fifty pounds per week and selling for about $9.95 per pound, the hams are sold unsliced and can be found in our deli at the Pike Place Market, on sandwiches at Delicatus in the Pioneer Square and, starting in mid-November, at Haggen Supermarkets throughout the Puget Sound region. They are easily sliced, thick or thin, with a sharp knife at home and lend themselves to being gently reheated whole and served as a centerpiece at a brunch or weekend football party (Go Hawks!). One ham generously serves two people and provides leftovers that can be creatively incorporated into dishes throughout the week.

Chef Michael Johnson of Century Link Suites serves our hams sliced and says, “Bavarian Meats ham is simply a superior product with obvious attention to detail…As a chef I pride myself on the relationship I have with them. Bavarian Meats is not only supplying an outstanding product they are a great local partner.”

The Sweetheart Hams can also be purchased wholesale at our warehouse located on Western Avenue.

Here at Bavarian Meats we are proud to introduce our new Sous Sol Wine Salami. Rooted in the traditional sausage-making techniques and recipes mastered by our beloved German-born grandfather, Max Hofstatter, our new product is a bold tweak on tradition.

Rich with locally made Sous Sol red wine and whole peppercorns, our new salami features lean beef and pork and is made without MSG, fillers or other unnecessary additives. Gluten and dairy free our wine salami is a handcrafted variation on our classic Cervelat and it pairs beautifully in a wide array of dishes, sandwiches and in charcuterie platters featuring other artisan sausages and handcrafted cheeses.

Under development since 2014, wine salami was created by our Production Manager, Jamie Simmons and won the Grand Champion ribbon at the Northwest Meat Processors competition in Pendleton, Oregon that year. Simmons is pleased that we’ve updated a classic recipe yet stayed true to our artisan sausage-making tradition. He said, “Instead of completely reinventing the wheel to create a new recipe we looked at our sausage-making legacy and tweaked what has worked so well for decades. Our Cervelat was a great starting point for experimentation…by ramping up the flavor profile to meet the palates of today’s savvy Seattleites we built a whole new product. People just love it.”

Sous Sol Wine Salami is available at our full service German deli in the Pike Place Market and at Delicatus, a café and bar specializing in premium deli sandwiches, salad, specialty meats, artisan cheeses and more. The salami needs no refrigeration and is sold in four to five pound sticks, suitable for slicing and cubing.

Derek Shankland, Director of Operations at Delicatus loves the salami and says, “Delicatus and Sous Sol are excited to partner with the local icon Bavarian Meats for our Sous Sol Wine Salami. The salami is styled closer to a classic Tuscan salami with red wine and black pepper which fits our Italian grinder perfectly. The Olivitto is layered with the Sous Sol Salami, Bavarian Meats Sweet Heart Ham, Domestic Coppa and aged Provolone. Finished with shredded lettuce, fresh tomato, shaved red onions, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and dried Oregano this simple classic just got better just in time for summer. The Sous Sol Wine salami will also be for retail at Delicatus.”

Note: For vendors who are interested, our Sous Sol Wine Salami is available at our wholesale plant on Western Avenue.